Students create new product packaging as part of design competition

What if yogurt cups were widened so that spoons could rest inside and not topple the container? Or what if the tops were sturdier ensuring that they couldn’t be punctured or open if dropped?

These and other issues were solved during the 2015 Wegmans Design Challenge. The winners re-vamped packages with more consumer appeal and they were redesigned with more sustainable materials.

The Challenge was part of a fall semester class in which students from the packaging science department in RIT’s College of Applied Science and Technology partnered with students from the industrial design and graphic design departments in the university’s College of Imaging Arts and Sciences. The multidisciplinary teams resembled those that would be found in the workplace, and the challenge provides the students with hands-on skills in project management, marketing and incorporating sustainable designs in product development.

Each year, the design competition features different products, said Jason Wadsworth, Wegmans sustainability manager and one of the judges for the competition. “We know this is about design, marketability and improving the use of products, but I’m glad the teams emphasized sustainability. Our Wegman’s customers are aware of sustainability and it matters to them and to us. I’m impressed with the work. This was a win.”

Eight teams re-worked packaging designs for two Wegmans products: its premium orange juice and Greek yogurt. All projects had to include strategies about changes in packaging structure, the materials used and improvements to graphic and ergonomic elements. They were also required to provide evidence of sustainable use and cost savings. Each team detailed the work in videos showcasing designs, sustainable impact—and several of Wegman’s local stores.

“Projects like this are so important to our academic careers because they broaden our knowledge and expand our creativity when looking at real-world problems with real-world parameters,” said Laura Hoerner, a fourth-year graphic design student on Team Moo, one of the winning teams. “We are able to work with peers in various majors with different ideas and thought processes. I have learned so much from working along side the industrial designers and the packaging science majors. It provides a different experience than just working with other graphic design students.”

The winning Orange Juice Team 8 exchanged the traditional cardboard container with a clear, slimmed-down version that was fully recyclable. The new design allows for more products shipped on pallets, reducing the number of individual crated items and transportation impacts.

Team Moo won the Greek yogurt category with a box-like, stackable design that included a stronger lid to replace the foil usually found on the containers. Each of the flavors of the yogurt was indicated by color, and the Wegman’s Organic leaf logo was prominent.

“Thumbs up for the leaf,” said Wadsworth, who added that the company was looking to emphasize more of its organic brands and adding the leaf to the new design was in line with the company’s future focus. “It is a great looking package and it would stand out on the shelf. This one has a lot of potential.”

That potential also included a return to reusable crates. Using this design, Wegman’s could ship 37 percent more product, the equivalent, the students said, of 40,000 more cups. It could potentially mean eliminating the need for 16,000 square feet of corrugated paperboard per truck.

“We began with problems we saw with the current Wegmans design, and tried to build from there. We wanted to keep it realistic for Wegmans, keeping in mind cost, machinery and the current methods they use to ship their product,” said Hoerner, who is from Buffalo, N.Y. “We sought to address those issues, as well as keeping a premium look to an organic product.”

This is the seventh year for the collaborative course that has, over that time, incorporated products from Colgate-Palmolive, Sun Products, Kraft, Unilever as well as American Packaging and Wegmans into the design competition. The latter two companies were the original corporate supporters when the student projects first began.